First of all, my condolences.
These are two separate questions really. 1) What to do with a lump sum of (potentially life changing) money. 2) how to have a satisfying career.
Lets take the 2nd one first as it applies if you have money or not. While there are several approaches here I think only 2 really apply to you: 1) the follow your bliss approach. 2) build career capital so you can have more control over what you do.
I don't think either approach is better or worse, but there might be people who are more suited to one or the other. If you are passionate about something so much that it's the only thing that consumes you (and you should be mature enough and old enough to follow this approach as well. It's easy to think your life passion is X when you are 16. Or 22 for that matter.). Then maybe this is a good approach for you. However, you really need to be dedicated, self driven, and pretty good at some aspect of your passion.
The second approach I'll call the Cal Newport approach - or So good they can't ignore you. I won't go into detail here. Just read or listen to Cal. He's easy to find. The theory, though, is that being really, really good allows you autonomy in your job. And autonomy is really what makes your happy in a job (and life). I can vouch for this approach. It's what I've followed before I even knew who Cal was (and once you get good and something you often become passionate about it).
Now money: my advice to anyone getting a large lump sum of money is to do pretty much nothing for a while. Now if you have a lot of credit card debt, then pay it off. If you don't have a car and you need one, then get a sensible one. Maybe have a nice meal out (if you can do that where your are) or buy some new clothes, but nothing major. Get used to having 500k.
Many here will not agree, but 500k is not all that much. There's the 4% rule which says your can use 4% of it for a pretty long time before running low or out (this varies a lot depending on how you invest and how the market does - it could be 20 years, 30 years, or never). 4% of 500k is 20k a year. Before taxes.
Some people can live on 20k a year just fine. Most can not. It's a great supplement, though. You'll likely want to follow a sensible "Ramsey" or "Orman" like approach (whatever that is these days): have an emergency fund (cash), have some safe investments (bonds [maybe muni]), have some stocks (index funds/etfs).
I personally think your plan is not a good idea. I would not quit my job. I would not go travel for a year. I would not start planning my dream job/lifestyle. Now if you had an idea for a business you'd been mulling, and you know how completely consuming being a business owner can be, then, fine, try it out. But time box it. You are going to start your business and do it for 12, 16, 24 months. Whatever you think it needs. If's it not working out, then stop and get a job.
I might take the opportunity to get a new job I might like better. I might work part time while getting more education. You are too old to start creating career gaps. I might even move somewhere I like better (getting a job first, though).